HAVING REGARD to the call of the Environment
Ministers for risk reduction action in Member countries as set out in their
1991 Communiqué "An Environmental Strategy in the 1990's" ;

HAVING REGARD to the Decision-Recommendation
of the Council concerning Co-operative Investigation and Risk Reduction of
Existing Chemicals [C(90)163/FINAL] as well as to its Recommendation concerning
Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control [C(90)164/FINAL];

HAVING REGARD to the conclusions of the
meeting of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development in May 1994
concerning the health impact to humans exposed to lead in gasoline, and
encouraging further efforts to reduce exposure of humans to lead in gasoline
(UN Economic and Social Council Official Records, 1994, Supplement No. 13, pp
32-34);

RECOGNISING the risks to human health, in
particular for children and other high risk and sensitive populations, and
risks to the environment associated with lead exposure and the need for
co-operative commitments to reduce any transboundary exposure;

RECOGNISING the differing needs and
circumstances of Member countries which call for flexible national risk
reduction strategies and time frames;

RECOGNISING the value of national and
international risk assessments in setting priorities for action on lead risk
reduction and in determining the risks and benefits of proposed alternative
solutions;

RECOGNISING the willingness of industry to
share their experience in the sound management and prudent use of products
containing lead including development of alternative solutions;

WELCOMING the willingness of the lead
industry to share responsibility for risk reduction of lead and benefits of
such co-operation in the management of the risks;

WISHING to build upon the results of
work to date and the significant reductions in exposure that have been achieved
by Member countries and noting with approval the valuable contribution of the
OECD Chemicals Programme;

CONSIDERING that the sound management of
risk from lead exposure is beneficial to all countries and that the range of
national actions taken by OECD Member countries could assist and serve as
examples to non-member countries;

DECLARETHAT THEY WILL:

1. Develop, continue or
strengthen, as appropriate, national and co-operative efforts considered
necessary to reduce risks from exposure to lead through actions which take into
account national priorities, policies, programmes and achievements --
recognising that implementation may take the form of voluntary, economic,
and/or regulatory actions;

2. Give highest
priority to actions which address the risk of exposure from food and beverages,
water, air, occupational exposure and other potential pathways in accordance
with Annex I;

3. Continue to review
lead levels in the environment and exposure to lead of sensitive populations
(such as children and pregnant women) and of high risk populations (such as
certain groups of workers) using the results to evaluate the effectiveness of
national programs in reducing risks from exposure to lead and to identify
priorities and opportunities for future actions;

4. Promote and maximise
the use of environmentally sound and economically viable collection and
recycling programmes for lead and lead containing products in order to reduce
the release of lead to the environment from waste streams;

5. Extend co-operative
efforts to share, including with non-OECD countries, information about exposures
of concern, risk reduction options and environmentally sound and economically
viable technologies in order to reduce risks from exposure to lead;

6. Encourage the lead
producing and using industries to make best use of their expertise on the
management of risks from lead and encourage them to make this expertise
available to OECD and non-OECD countries;

7. Work with the lead
producer industry to develop its voluntary programme of action to reduce
exposure to lead, which will be implemented in co-operation with national
authorities in OECD and interested non-OECD countries and encourage user
industries to develop similar programmes;

FURTHER DECLARE THAT THE OECD
SHOULD:

8. Support Member
countries in implementing this Declaration;

9. Review progress by
Member countries in pursuance of this Declaration three years after adoption
and assess the need for further action;

10. Develop a framework
for the co-operation of industry in implementing voluntary industry programmes
for risk reduction on lead with a view to its wider applicability to other risk
reduction activities;

11. Compile a guide on
risk reduction of lead drawing on the extensive experience of Member countries
and the work of the OECD risk reduction programme to assist OECD and non-OECD
countries in developing and implementing lead risk reduction programmes;

12. Bring this
Declaration to the attention of the United Nations Commission for Sustainable
Development and other intergovernmental bodies and forums concerned with the
sound management of chemicals.

INVITE:

13. Non-member countries
to take account of the terms of this Declaration, to associate themselves with
it and to implement the measures therein;

14. The relevant
international standards organisations (including the International Standards
Organisation), to develop or modify, as appropriate, international standards,
testing procedures and definitions for products with a view to reducing the
release of lead;

15. Other international
organisations, involved with the protection of public health and the
environment, to take this Declaration into consideration as they develop or
revise goals, guidelines, and associated codes of practice for protection of
human health and the environment.

ANNEX

a) Progressively phase-down use of
lead in gasoline except where needed for essential or specialised uses for
which there are no practical, viable alternatives;

b) Eliminate exposure of children to
lead resulting from products intended for use by children (e.g., toys, cribs,
crayons);

c) Eliminate exposure to lead from
food packaging (e.g., for cans, by phasing down use of lead solder in existing
canning lines, not using lead solder in new caning lines, or where these are
not practical, using functional barriers to prevent lead migration; for
wine-bottle capsules, substituting other materials);

d) Phase down the use of lead in paint
and rust-proofing agents except in cases of essential or specialised uses for
which there are no practical alternatives;

e) Restrict exposure to lead from the
leaching of lead from ceramic ware and crystal ware used for food and beverages
(e.g., by effective production and process controls);

f) Restrict the use of lead shot in
wetlands and promote the use of alternatives to lead sinkers in shallow waters;

g) Reduce lead levels in drinking water
through appropriate measures (e.g. treatment of the water, use of materials in
the distribution system which do not release lead into the water);

h) Reduce levels of lead in
occupational settings;

i) Limit air emissions from major
point sources;

j) Establish strategies, including
public information programmes, to abate significant exposures arising from the
historic use of lead-containing materials in buildings.